In a rare moment of generosity towards taxpayers, in 2006 the Assembly of the Republic approved a new Law on Local Finance (Law 2/2007 of 15 January), in which it granted each Municipality 5% of IRS revenues paid annually by those who have tax domicile in their geographical area. But each municipality was also given the possibility of returning this revenue to its citizens, in whole or in part, thus relieving the tax burden that suffocates the vast majority (of those who pay taxes). A consultation of the Federal Revenue website brings up some interesting revelations. Only six of the Algarve municipalities decided to return these amounts in full: Albufeira, Alcoutim, Aljezur, Lagos, Loulé and Vila do Bispo. Others are in the middle of the road. S. Brás de Alportel, Silves and Vila Real de Santo António don’t give back a cent, but it’s understandable. One lacks budgetary and territorial dimensions, another must have an ideological vision of the problem, and the third continues to be drowning in past debts. Now, two of the most powerful municipalities in the Algarve are some of the most stingy. Faro returns the paltry 0.5%, and Olhão only gives up 1%. There is a common link called Antonio Pina. He led Olhão, and now he leads Faro. The stingy is the same.
Of course, this is the type of irritation that finds politicians the easiest target, the scapegoat for all evils, the outlet for collective frustration made up of a cumulation of individual frustrations. Here, the target is right up front, like in a fairground where rag balls are thrown to knock down the dolls. The worst are the irritations that arise from citizens’ lack of civility, and when daily examples of lack of ethics multiply, where the chico-smartism of some prevails, in clear disrespect for others and for the rules of coexistence of the entire community. There are conditions in the school system today like none of us ever dreamed of. Every year an incredible number of doctors, masters and prof-docs leave universities. Classic illiteracy reaches marginal rates. (Mis)information has taken over our daily lives in excess, but – however, as people used to say in the past – it seems that civic values are in free fall.
There have never been so many laws, so many municipal attitudes, so many regulations, so many prohibitive signs and codes, but the number of individuals who take pleasure in vandalizing infrastructures that belong to everyone, such as gardens, transport, street furniture, monuments, facades, even rubbish containers, is impressive. Regardless of the umbrella war that has suddenly broken out on our beaches, it is irritating to see those who get up early just to mark with towels the spaces of sand that others will come to occupy later, or grab sun loungers in the pools of buildings and hotels. It’s irritating to see how certain drivers don’t respect traffic queues, and get in front of others, without shame or fuss. There are too many crazy people on the road, who make fun of speed limits and the safety of others. It irritates that the police are rarely where they think they are needed. It’s irritating to see certain mentally ill people park in spaces reserved for vehicles for people with certain difficulties. Not to mention, on public transport, those who occupy seats reserved for the elderly or people with reduced mobility.
It causes irritation to see so many people with cell phones in their hands, or in their ears, talking loudly in the middle of the street or inside a train or bus carriage, disturbing others, spreading their own privacy as if they were in a telephone booth without a door. There are an increase in people who throw bottles, food waste, paper, cardboard and gardening debris in the middle of the street, knowing that someone will have to clean up the mess they make. These are all civic irritations. In fact, redirecting the binoculars towards whoever is in charge of all this, it is revolting to see the scarcity of spaces allocated to the public at bus, railway or airport stations. Everything is done for the business, and for Zé Povinho’s farm. Once the few available seats are exhausted, the alternative is to stand, or pay for food and drinks to sit in the concessionaires’ space. In a country where the transport delay rate is gigantic, no one seems concerned about serving the public properly. You need to pay and consume, even if you don’t feel like it. We increasingly lack the ethical dimension in civic attitudes. Screw the principles, save whoever can, seems to be the motto of current times.
The author writes according to the old spelling
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